Official Blog of the John Tyler Community College Libraries

Choose Privacy Week: May 2-8

Intellectual freedom is not only the right to read what you like, to say what you like, and to protest what you like. Intellectual freedom is also the freedom to read, search, and learn in the digital age…without Big Brother watching over your shoulder. Or at least, not watching without your permission.

The American Library Association has declared the first week in May to be Choose Privacy Week. The ALA wants to begin a national conversation about privacy rights in the digital age. How much of your identity and privacy are you giving up in your digital life? How much information should corporations, applications and advertisers have a right to know-or a right to request? Are you selling your email…or much, much more?

Recently Facebook changed their privacy and security settings, calling the change “Instant Personalization.” Now Facebook automatically shares your information with advertisers, unless you change this in the Security and Privacy Settings. Disabling these default settings is a multi-step process. In addition, Facebook can still use information about you through your friends who did NOT change their privacy settings. Is this a fair trade?

Expect privacy to become more of an issue in the future as advertisers use online personal information to promote products to consumers online.

Intellectual freedom means you choose to share or to protect your personal information. Do it wisely and be an informed consumer.

Written by Suzanne

Suzanne has loved books from an early age, and remembers reading her 24 volume World Book Encyclopedia set when she ran out of novels. Now that she works in a library, she will never run out of reading material again! Suzanne is a recent MLS graduate who loves working with students and technology.